Happy One Week Birthday, Baby Girls!!

Sophia and Annabel are ONE WEEK OLD today!  It is kind of surreal. On one hand, it feels like they were just born, and on the other hand, it feels like they have been here for weeks!  It has been a very difficult week, but it has also been the happiest of times for us welcome these babies into our lives and hearts. We have spent countless hours bonding with them, snuggling them, and loving on them.

Sophia 1 Week Old!

Annabel 1 Week Old!

The girls have grown (figuratively speaking...they are still below their birth weight) so much in that week.  They are looking more and more like little newborn babies than tiny preemie babies, they are more alert every day, and Annabel is even wearing a newborn size outfit today instead of a preemie outfit!  Considering they are only 36 weeks gestation (or as David says, negative 4 weeks old), they are doing amazing things.  When the clock struck 12:28 today, we did a little cheers with out water cups to our sweet girls.

Our girls are officially just "feeders and growers" in the NICU!  They need to practice feeding and show the staff that they are growing and gaining weight (which they did last night!).  They need to take all of their feedings from a bottle for 24 hours, then "ad lib" feed (wake up on their own at least every 4 hours) for a certain amount of time, and then they can come home.  Both girls will probably come home on oxygen for a bit.  Yesterday, the staff told us they would be home in 7-12 days.  I'm definitely hoping for the shorter end of that.  There is also a strong possibility that one of the girls will get to come home before the other (Annabel will likely come before Sophia).

They were doing really well with their feedings, but Annabel has been a little pokey butt in her feedings, and half the time sleeps right through them.  The NICU staff tells us that with preemies, it seems like one day the food fairy will come in the middle of the night, and all of a sudden the girls will just take off with their bottles.  Both of them are serious hiccupers! Here's a little clip of Sophia and her hiccups yesterday.

Both girls have their belly button IVs taken out, which is a huge relief!  This morning, they took Sophia off of the Hi-Flow oxygen and she is now just on regular oxygen.  YAY!

The girls look completely different, so we joke that there is a Carney baby (blonde hair, light skin--Annabel), and then there is a Montero baby (dark hair and skin--Sophia).  Both of them have completely stolen my heart, and I truly can't imagine two more perfect babies.

The grandparents are thoroughly enjoying taking a few feeding shifts everyday and are getting in some good bonding time!

My mom even got to give Sophia her first bath in a "tub" (the others have all been sponge baths).

Annie getting a bath! 

Sophia watching Annie in the background